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Teacher announces run for Lebanon City Council

John Latimer, johnlatimer@ldnews.com
Published 9:48 a.m. ET April 13, 2017

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Touchscreen voting machines have to be properly calibrated to register votes correctly. Michael Anderson, director of the Lebanon County Bureau of Elections, demonstrates how the machines are calibrated.
Daniel Walmer, Lebanon Daily News

Amy Keller is one of two Democrats running for a pair of council seats on the ballot

Amy Keller, an Elco School District teacher, is running as a Democrat for Lebanon City Council.(Photo: Submitted)

A public school teacher who grew up in Lebanon has announced her candidacy for Lebanon City Council.

Amy Keller will be seeking the Democratic nomination for one of two council seats in the upcoming Primary on May 16.

She is the second Democrat to announcer her candidacy. The other is Royal Marti, a student at HACC-Lebanon Campus.

With fond childhood memories of growing up in Lebanon, Kelller said she is running for council for the opportunity to work with others on the city's comeback.

“Lebanon is on the verge of great economic and cultural revitalization,” she said in a news release.

A 1999 graduate of Lebanon High School, Keller earned a Bachelor’s Degree in English education from Millersville University and a master’s degree in secondary education from California University before moving on to her career in teaching as a language arts teacher at Elco Middle School.

Although this is her first time running for elective office, Keller has experience in city government as a volunteer for the Northside Neighborhood Organization, a city-run initiative that coordinated events and programs to improve the quality of life on Lebanon’s northside neighborhoods.

Restoring pride in Lebanon’s neighborhoods, will be one of her goals while serving on council, Keller said. Her priorities include removing blighted and deteriorating properties, and supporting other beautification efforts that will attract businesses, which will increase city revenues.

Additionally, Keller said, she will support community-building efforts so that families feel a sense of belonging and take pride in the appearance of their neighborhoods.

Keller said she enjoyed the city’s neighborhood playgrounds and recreation programs growing up and will work hard to restore funding for youth programming and improving playgrounds, parks and recreational facilities.

She also plans to work with the mayor and city residents to design programming that will improve the city’s burgeoning art community, she said.

"This will have strong economic benefits, too,” Keller said. “When people engage in arts and events within the community, our local businesses also gain support.”

Key to any effort to attract people to the downtown is making them feel safe, said Keller, who pledged to support the city's police department and drug task force.

“Our city’s police officers deserve our respect and they do an extremely hard job...” she said. “A safe community is a successful community, and city residents deserve the security of an efficient police force.”

The mother of a young daughter, Keller and her husband, Kevin, began Norah’s Library” book drive in 2012 to honor their late daughter by providing thousands of books that serve as summer reading materials for Lebanon School District students.

Keller is an active member of Calvary Chapel of Lebanon and sing’s in the church’s worship. She is also is a member of the Lebanon Maennerchor Chorus.

For more information, visit Keller's website, amykellerforcitycouncil.weebly.com or her Facebook page, AmyKellerforCityCouncil.

A seat on City Council comes with a four year term that next year will pay $2,000.

Monday is the deadline to register to vote or change party affiliation for the Primary Election.